Mumbai, June 28: Following the strong balance of payments and comfortable foreign exchange reserves position, India has been selected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be a member of its financial transaction plan (FTP). The country has accordingly contributed $ 205 million to the FTP, thus turning from a debtor into a creditor to IMF, the Reserve Bank said today. This decision to select India to become a member of FTP from the September-November 2002 quarter sends out a strong signal about India’s strength and the resilience of its external sector to the international community, RBI added. The RBI said the IMF selects countries with strong BoP and foreign exchange reserves position to contribute to the FTP. These countries help the IMF finance the BoP needs of other countries.

Mumbai, June 28: India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $ 301 million at $ 82,120 million during the week ended June 20, 2003, due to the contribution to the International Monetary Fund under the financial transactions plan (FTP). The foreign currency assets (FCA) fell by $ 301 million at $ 78,446 million during the period under review, according to Reserve Bank’s weekly statistical supplement here today.

New Delhi, June 28: Major trade unions including AITUC and BMS have decided to protest moves by the government to restart the stalled privatisation exercise of Nalco. A joint statement signed by eight labour unions, including AITUC, AICCTU, Citu, BMS, TUCC UTUC and UTCU (LS), said July 18 would be observed as a day of all India protest against the privatisation of the aluminium major.